About Marshall Brain
I am best known as the founder of HowStuffWorks. I started Howstuffworks.com in 1998 as a hobby, and it has been fun to watch it grow ever since.
Most Recent: Marshall Brain Postings
Ferrari and BMW Prep Hybrid Supercars – “The Ferrari 599 hybrid is scheduled to debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March. The first Ferrari hybrid will keep its big V12 engine, but add a mild hybrid system. This piece borrows cutting-edge “kinetic energy recovery system” technology from the company’s Formula 1 program. [...]
You do not want to get cancer in general, but pancreatic cancer is one of the worst. 90% of people getting pancreatic cancer die of the disease in the United States.
Now there is evidence that drinking soft drinks nearly doubles your risk of getting pancreatic cancer:
Study links soda, pancreatic cancer
Writing in the journal Cancer [...]
Amazing – Going inside the Giant Crystal Cave
by Marshall Brain | February 9, 2010
This is one of those “Must See” videos, especially around minute 3:00. It shows the preparations for going into, and then the actual entry into, what must be the most amazing cave on the planet:
The Ice Pack Vest is pretty unexpected.
You can learn more about this cave here. There is also [...]
Test yourself – What is your risk intelligence?
by Marshall Brain | February 9, 2010
Here is an explanation of “risk intelligence”:
You can find the risk intelligence test at the top of this page:
Test Your risk intelligence
High risk intelligence is quite rare. Fifty years of research in the psychology of judgement and decision making shows that most people are not very good at thinking clearly about [...]
Good question – How can you have fun if you have a lot of snow?
by Marshall Brain | February 9, 2010
There are parts of the United States that are inundated in snow right now. What can you do with it?
Idea #1 – use the snow as a landing pad as you leap from the roof of a building. Understand that you need a lot of snow in a soft drift for this to work:
[...]
Giant bizarre deep sea fish filmed in Gulf of Mexico – “Extraordinary footage of a rarely seen giant deep sea fish has been captured by scientists. Using a remotely operated vehicle, they caught a rare glimpse of the huge oarfish, perhaps the first sighting of the fish in its natural setting…”
Confusion about fluorescent lighting – [...]
This video introduces the 6 members of the STS-130 crew and explains the goals of the STS-130 mission in detail:
Here is NASA’s description of what will happen on day 1:
Space shuttle Endeavour’s crew will be awakened about 6:15 p.m. EST for a work day that will focus on using the robotic [...]
Public service announcement – Boredom can kill you
by Marshall Brain | February 8, 2010
This just in – if your life is boring, you are more likely to die young:
You really can be bored to death, scientists discover
More than 7,000 civil servants were studied over 25 years – and those who said they were bored were nearly 40 per cent more likely to have died by the end of [...]
In Yosemite National Park there are two phenomena known as a firefall. The first is a man-made phenomenon created, literally, from fire falling. This firefall occurred each night at 9PM at Glacier Point for nearly a century, as described in this video:
See also: Yosemite Firefall
The second is a natural optical [...]
At any major sporting event there is one thing you are sure to see if the weather is decent. Look, up in the sky, it’s a blimp. A gigantic sky whale. Like a helicopter, blimps can provide a hovering platform in the sky that makes them great for aerial photography. But unlike a helicopter, a [...]
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Interesting Reading #414 – The tiniest computer, hearts really can break, family pays $5,000 per year for connections, New font saves ink and much more…
- Public Service Announcement – Soft drinks nearly double your chances of pancreatic cancer
- Amazing – Going inside the Giant Crystal Cave
FanStuff
- What’s art — and what’s groundbreaking — in video games?
- Ursula K. Le Guin vs. Google Books: Round Two
- “Lost,” “Fringe” and That Whole Alternate Universe Thing
How-to Stuff
- How to Take a Road Trip, Abraham Lincoln-Style
- How to Explain Love in the Least Romantic Way Possible
- How to Quiet a Barking Dog
ScienceStuff
- Space Music Vol. 8: Sun Ra and Afrofuturism
- Stuff from the Science Lab Roundup: Space Eats and Grow Houses
- Why does time fly as you get older?
Stuff You Should Know
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
High Speed Stuff
- The Toyota Recall: Where can you get the latest information?
- What is Toyota doing to fix its gas pedal problem?
- High Speed Stuff Wrap-up: Automotive Pet Peeves and Polar Vehicles
Keep Asking
- How does an airbrush work?
- Is the Internet free? If you want to make a website, will it cost you to put it online?
- If you look at a piece of glass from an angle, why does it have a bluish or green tint?
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Last Week in History Podcasts: Battle Horses and Black Moses
- The Wonderful Adventures of the Nurse We Forgot
- Black History Month on HowStuffWorks
